The Key To Choosing Abdominal Exercise Equipment

!±8± The Key To Choosing Abdominal Exercise Equipment

A wide range of exercise equipment is available in the market for abdominal weight loss. Not all of them are, however, very effective. The following are some of the exercises one can do to lose abdominal fat:

Roman Chair - various useful exercises can be done with this common piece of equipment in the gym. It consists or two parallel arms with a high, straight, padded back, but no seat. Perhaps the best way to use it is that following, which is also, incidentally, an exercise that was ranked second at the San Diego State University survey on abdominal exercises.

In this, one needs to place the forearms on the parallel arm rests and align the back with the back rest of the chair. It is important to adjust the height of the chair such that the legs may dangle straight down when the body is in position to begin the exercise. Then, slowly, effort must be made to bend the legs and bring the knees as close to the chest as possible, stay there for sometime, and then again, slowly, come back to the start position. This process must be repeated a few times.

Bicycle Maneuver - one of the more fun exercises, everyone is familiar with it to some extent. The method is to lie flat on the back and bend the knees till they are forty five degrees with the chest. By placing both hands initially near the head, and then trying to touch the left elbow with the right knee and doing the same on the other side, simultaneously tensing the abdominal muscles, this process can be continued for some time.

Leg crunches can also be done using the bicycle maneuver. The technique is to lie flat with hands by the side or by the head. Then raise the feet above the head, slightly bend the knees and then lift the torso off the ground, squeezing the abdomen between the torso and the knees. This process must also be repeated, but care must be taken to keep breathing normal.

Exercise Ball - this can also be used to effectively do crunches. By sitting on the ball with feet about a foot apart, the body must be aligned along the ball. Then by tightening the abdominal muscle, the trunk must be lifted off the ball and the process repeated.